A Soldier Stands
by Squirrel Stone
Summary: Usagi's father was supposed to be on a special assignment for the magazine in Germany, but now Usagi's gotten wrapped up in something way bigger than she ever expected. Now she's seeing faces from the past and fighting with herself on just what she's supposed to do and if she's even the same person she was last year.


I don't own Sailor Moon or Marvel. Be forewarned, this is _limited_ third person from Usagi's perspective. Therefore, some pieces will be missing if she isn't there.

* * *

A young woman, not even eighteen years of age, walked down the track off the airplane, a good few feet ahead of her parents and brother. She barely hit five feet, but she had enough energy to stay ahead of the pack. She smoothed out her white dress and adjusted her purse on her shoulder, glancing back as she got to the exit so her family had a moment to catch up.

"I don't know how you do it, Usagi," Ikuko sighed, shaking her head. The housewife let out a little laugh. "You were practically running and you aren't even out of breath!"

"That's because she's an alien," Usagi's little brother Shingo replied sarcastically, having no idea how right he was.

Usagi only rolled her eyes, verbally mimicking the youngest of the family. "Brat."

Instantly, Kenji Tsukino was between the two, ready to break up a fight before it started. "Alright you two, we need to get to the museum in half an hour; if we aren't there, my boss'll have my head."

Reluctantly, the two headed onwards, getting into a taxi with their parents and heading to Stuttgart. Naturally, Usagi spent the entire ride there daydreaming about her adventures as a senshi and, of course, Mamoru. It was only her mother notifying her that they were there that snapped Usagi out of her trance. The blonde got out of the cab, this time trailing behind her parents and brother instead of taking the lead.

"Do you ever get the feeling something bad's gonna happen?" Shingo asked as the four walked up towards the museum. Irony would have them trapped, for no sooner than he spoke did a few nearby police cars explode, flipping in their spots.

Screams erupted from the crowd, everyone running in different directions, Usagi's family trying to pull her away as well, ignoring the deranged man ordering them to kneel. But Usagi was the only one who failed to move. Even as multiple copies of the man appeared, surrounding and trapping the crowd, Usagi didn't move. Before she knew it, she was the only one standing in a swarm.

"Is not this simpler?" the man asked. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." His eyes fell on Usagi. "And just who are you to challenge me?"

Shingo gently tugged down on his sister's hand, desperately trying to get her to kneel to save her life. Instead, Usagi just stared on, horrified.

The only one to truly take action was an elderly gentleman who got to his feet, shaking from the effort. "No one should kneel to men like you," he declared, his voice firm despite his body's frailty.

"There are no men like me," Loki claimed.

The older man only let out a breath of a laugh. "There are always men like you."

Loki shook his head, not even noticing as Usagi finally pulled herself out of her trance, getting a pen out of her purse. What a menacing figure she must have been, a little girl holding a pen as though it were a sword. Most would laugh.

The blonde cut the Asgardian off in the middle of his next speech, instead walking through the crowd right up to the man. "You will stop this nonsense at once, you fool, or you shall face the wrath of the cosmos!" She held the pen to his neck, and he raised an eyebrow at her, using one finger to push it away as he laughed.

"And just what is your name, little girl?" he asked.

Quietly, so no one else could hear her, Usagi whispered, "I am Serenity Lunaria, the lost princess of the moon and the last wielder of the Silver Crystal. If you do not stand down, you will be taken into custody by my guards and exiled from this planet."

Loki's laughs grew louder, and he took a step back. "Oh, I thought I recognized you, little one," he replied with a smirk. "Poor little princess, her home destroyed!" He emphasized the last word by taking the end of his staff and smacking Usagi across the face with it. The blonde fell to the ground, one hand going to her cheek as she realized what was going on.

She whipped her head back, stumbling to her feet. "So you do know who I am. You're not human."

"Oh... you think?" Loki replied sarcastically. "Come on, Sere, surely you remember me somewhere in that airy little head of yours." He walked up to Usagi again, petting her hair with one hand.

Instantly, Usagi pushed him, forcing him to the ground a good ten feet away from her. "Do not touch me!" she ordered. She raised her hand to transform, only to realize she'd lost her pen in the shuffle. She glanced to where she had fallen earlier, as did Loki, and both lunged for the pen lying there. Luckily, Usagi was closer and able to grab it, though she was sitting on the pavement once more.

"Dear Serenity, you should have given up when you had the chance," Loki told her, lifting his scepter to execute her.

Just before the beam could reach her, Captain America jumped between the two, the blast reflecting off his shield and hitting Loki. "You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing," the blond man declared.

Loki got to his feet, eyeing the captain. "A soldier. A man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time," Captain America shot back, not even noticing the girl transforming in a flash of light behind him into a pure white senshi uniform.

From above in a jet, a woman's voice ordered, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

Naturally, that didn't work.

As Loki used his scepter to shoot up into the sky, Usagi used her own scepter to shoot at Loki, grazing his hand and forcing him to release his own weapon. Captain America threw his shield, forcing Loki back away from the scepter for another moment, but Loki was back on the offensive in a minute, making copies of himself to both fight and distract the two soldiers.

Suddenly, music began blasting, and the three looked up to see a red and gold suit flying in, landing so it, Usagi, and Captain America surrounded Loki. The suit pulled out every piece of weaponry it had, making Usagi's eyes widen a little. "Make your move, Reindeer Games," a voice from within the suit called.

Loki put up his hands in surrender, his armor materializing back into everyday clothes.

The metal suited man put away his own weapons and shrugged. "Good move."

"Mr. Stark," Captain America greeted the man.

"Captain," Iron Man replied in greeted, looking over to Usagi. "Psychotic-but-hot civilian."

"Hey!" Usagi objected, blushing as she always did when someone paid her even a backhanded compliment. "I am neither psychotic nor a civili-" She caught herself, a horrified look on her face. Slowly, she turned around, seeing her parents and brother staring right back at her.

Shingo, of course, was the only one smiling. "My sister's a superhero!" he yelled, the distance making him the only one she could hear. "I can't wait to tell everyone!"

"No! Shingo, you can't-" Usagi started to walk over to her family, only to have a firm hand wrap around her arm. She looked back to see Captain America.

The man had sympathetic eyes, but his voice was firm. "I'm sorry, miss, but I have strict instructions to bring you with me," he declared. "I'd rather not use force, and I'm sure your family doesn't want to see you get hurt or have their lives turned upside down by all this."

Usagi frowned, her head falling. She spared one last glance at her family before following the captain to the jet, walking inside.

* * *

"I don't like it," Captain America whispered once they were safe in the air. Usagi glanced over to Loki, tied up and chained to his seat. Usagi had one wrist handcuffed to her seat, but she agreed to it after the captain explained S.H.I.E.L.D.'s concerns over her potential power and their lack of knowledge on her. Obviously they didn't know much about her, otherwise they'd know she could free herself in less than a second.

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" the man who had identified himself as Tony replied, grabbing Usagi's attention again.

"I don't remember it ever being that easy," Captain America explained. "This guy packs a wallop."

Usagi zoned out for the rest of their conversation, instead thinking of the man they had just worked to capture. Loki. He said they knew each other, at least back when she was Serenity, but Usagi was drawing a blank. She'd been forced to meet so many people from so many places that she barely knew up from down anymore, much less one life from the next.

Thunder and lightning shook the plane, despite the skies being perfectly clear mere seconds ago. Faintly, Usagi smiled. "I have a friend who can do that," she noted absentmindedly, not really caring who was listening. "She'd hate being up here, though. Scared of planes." She glanced around to see that Loki, Captain America, and Tony were all gone. "Where'd they go?"

The redhead in the front seat turned her head for a moment to look at Usagi. "You fall asleep or something, kid? They're long gone, but they'll be back. Probably with Thor."

That name sounded familiar, too.

Since there were fewer people on the jet to deal with, Usagi stood up, gently tugging at the handcuffs. Thanks to her powers, her arm passed right through. She walked up to the front, sweeping her filmy white cloak aside and sitting in the copilot's seat. "My name is Usagi, but you can feel free to call me Serenity," she offered the redhead. "What's your name?"

The woman almost did a double take, though part of her was expecting the blonde to have something up her sleeve. "Natasha Romanoff."

Usagi glanced between the copilot controls and Natasha and slowly reached her hand out to the redhead. "May I?" she asked, hesitant. Natasha glanced at the young woman out of the corner of her eye, confused, but she nodded nevertheless. Usagi touched the woman's temple for only a second before pulling away and putting her hands on the controls.

"I figured it would be easier to have two people flying a two-flyer vessel," she explained, switching on her controls and flying like an old pro. "Please don't tell anyone I can do that," she requested. "People get scared or try to take advantage of it."

Natasha nodded, not speaking a word for a moment as she processed what the girl had done. "Do you copy all the information or just bits and pieces?"

"I'm not really sure," she confessed. "I know everything you know about this plane now, though." She sighed, hating to talk about her powers. "Who were all those men?"

"The one you helped capture was Loki, a frost giant, and the other two were Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man, and Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America."

"Loki and Captain Rogers seem familiar," the blonde confessed. "Then again, I'm a reincarnated princess from the moon, so..." Life couldn't get much more complicated than that.

* * *

Usagi watched as Loki was interrogated, still trying to place him. Worse yet was Steve Rogers. Him she recognized plain as day now that he didn't have that silly mask on. Secretly, Usagi hated masks. She'd thrown hers away mere moments after receiving it, despite Luna's disapproval. She'd worn a mask all through the Silver Millennium and still wore one to this day. So many thought she was still Sailor Moon, just with a pretty, new, white costume. That couldn't be further from the truth. Now, she was Cosmos, Sailor Cosmos when in uniform, but she planned to keep that information private as long as possible. Even Mamoru didn't know. Speaking of Mamoru...

"Hey, Cap, have you ever noticed that you use your shield kind of like a boomerang?" she asked. "You always expect it to come back."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Now is not the time to compare weaponry, kid."

"I am not a child," Usagi declared firmly, getting to her feet. Without thinking, she gestured to the latest arrival to the posse. "Thor may attest; I am a diplomat who can easily comprehend the ins and outs of any given realm-" She finally caught herself in her thoughts, and she pulled back somewhat.

Thor took a moment, looking Usagi over before a smile broke out on his face. "Serenity?" he asked, receiving a nod from the blonde.

An eerie silence took over the group, finally interrupted by Bruce Banner, who was still watching Loki's interrogation. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" the scientist asked sarcastically.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve replied. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract," Thor explained, the rest of the group hanging on his every word.

Steve raised an eyebrow, the concept new to him. "An army? From outer space?"

Usagi nodded. "You've missed a great deal during your sleep, Captain," she explained. "The world is different now. There have been eight large-scale attacks on the planet in the past four years."

"Excuse me, how come I've never heard of this?" Tony interrupted.

"Because I'm good at my job and the Japanese government is good at spinning media," Usagi replied simply, walking around so she had a better view at the monitor that showed Loki. "Generally, the attackers I've dealt with were interested in harvesting human energy, but according to Thor, these things want the Tesseract instead."

"So he's building another portal," Bruce said, once again the one to get back to the point. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

Thor stopped, blinking in surprise. "Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours," Natasha explained.

Unable to bear the conversation any longer, Usagi got up and left the room, heading towards Loki's prison. Tears filled her eyes, but she wiped them away before walking into the room.

Seeing the blonde, the Norse god smiled. "Has the child queen come to scold her subject?" he asked mockingly.

Usagi didn't dignify the question with a response. "How well did we know each other, Loki? In our past, I mean. Lately everything has been so foggy and muddled. It's like I've got a thousand lives running around in my head all at once... But we were close."

Loki's smile faded. "I was the one you confided in," he declared. "Ten years old, you learned, and it broke you. And you told no one but me."

"And then I went and died six years later." Usagi walked up to the prison, laying a hand on the glass. "It's strange, knowing I died in another life younger than I am now." Tears filling her eyes once more, she laid her head on the glass. "It hurts, Loki. You were my best friend, and now you're doing this. There are so many better things you could be doing."

Loki snorted. "Like what? Being imprisoned for treason? Tortured by Thanos? Stuck in Midgard?"

Usagi only shrugged in response, turning away. "Hey, I'm here in Midgard, right?" she asked. "You used to love being on the moon. How is it any different here?"

"I grew up, Serenity, and it's time you did the same."

"NO!" Usagi objected, turning around once more and kicking the cage. "It is my _job_ to never grow up or be cynical! Remember who said that? You! My best friend! The one who held me when I cried myself to sleep! The one who insisted that I can't let war change who I am! The one who promised to help me figure out how to use this damn power!"

Two agents rushed into the room, each grabbing one of Usagi's arms and pulling her back. "We were friends!" she yelled at him. "Does that mean nothing to you?"

Any glimmer of kindness Loki had shown the girl was suddenly gone, replaced by his former look of superiority. "No."

Usagi struggled as she was dragged out of the room, too angry to use her powers. Finally, the doors closed, separating the two former friends. "Why did you do that?" she demanded. "I'd almost gotten through to him!"

"You have a call," one of the agents, a brunette woman, informed her. "It's from your parents."

The color drained from Usagi's face, and she broke free, running to the communications room. "Mama? Papa? Shingo?" she asked into the phone sitting in the center of the round table in the room. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine, Usagi, but what about you?" Ikuko replied, motherly concern jumping in.

Usagi nodded for a moment before she could bring the words from her mouth. "Yes, I'm-I'm alright," she replied, her voice breaking slightly. "I... I met an old friend today. A couple, actually. They're very different now."

"Usagi, what happened last night?" Kenji demanded. "You... you're Sailor Moon! When did that happen?"

The blonde sighed, sitting down at the table. "Look, guys, I'm sorry, but I really can't give away any particulars right now. I may have a couple of friends, but most of these people I only just met, and I'm not sure how much I can trust them, and they're not sure how much they can trust me. I don't want them knowing everything about me before they've earned it."

"But you _are_ Sailor Moon, right?" Shingo asked, butting into the conversation.

The soldier laughed and nodded. "Yes, I am Sailor Moon," she confirmed. "I promise everything will be alright. I'm gonna take care of it. I love you." Before she could say any more, she hung up the phone, a couple of tears falling down her cheeks.

In what had become second nature since fighting Galaxia, Usagi wiped the tears away and pulled out her communicator, calling Minako. "Hey, Venus, I need your help, but you're not going to like who you're helping..."

* * *

A girl in an orange senshi uniform had gotten onto the jet within the hour and refused to say just how she did it. "Alright, I'm here to see Sailor Moon and Captain America," she declared, looking at the agents surrounding her. "Either you can tell me where to find them, or you can all be tied up until I find them. Your choice."

"Hey, hey, let her go!" Usagi ordered, running into the fray.

"And just who do you think you are to take command of my officers?" the brunette woman from before demanded.

Usagi pointed at Minako. "_Her_ commander and a very pissed off alien with supernatural powers. Now let. Her. Go."

Reluctantly, Maria Hill gave the signal, and the men surrounding Minako Aino pulled back. A smirk on her face, Minako walked up to her friend and linked arms with her, the two heading to Usagi's temporary room.

"What was up with that?" Minako asked, impressed by the princess's ability to take command the way she did. "You've never done that before."

With a stony stare, Usagi continued on. "I've never had to before," she replied simply. "Now, one of the people I'm working with was reincarnated from the Silver Millennium, though I doubt you remember him in the manner I do. So until you understand, I must give you one order: do not attack him."

Minako snorted. "Really?" she asked, doubting the girl's seriousness. "'Don't attack him?' Usagi, I'm a good enough judge of character to know-" The two rounded a corner to see Steve Rogers eating a bowl of cereal in the kitchen. After all, it had been a long night. The senshi of Venus looked between the captain and her best friend, shock all over her face. "Are you kidding me?" she asked. "You want me to work with him?"

"You _will_ work with him," Usagi declared, using the same tone as she had with Maria.

A sigh escaped the slightly older blonde, and she looked to Usagi. "You gave me one command, and I will follow it." With that, Minako turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

Steve blinked a couple of times, confused by what he had seen. "Did I miss something?" he asked.

"Try a thousand years," Usagi replied, getting a bowl and pouring herself some cereal as well. "Steve, I haven't been completely honest with you."

"Well, I figured that part was pretty obvious," he shrugged. "No one here really seems to like the 'honesty is the best policy' policy."

"I guess not," Usagi agreed with a sigh. "I supposed I should start out by saying that... you were alive long before your time in the second World War. Your name was Ares, but you went by Kunzite." And so Usagi went on, explaining the story of the Silver Millennium and the war between the Earth and the moon, along with the relationship between Kunzite and Venus that ended with Beryl brainwashing him. "Until recently, she had one of the infinity stones: the mind stone. Now it seems that Loki has it, but he is unable to control it."

"And that girl who was just here. She was... my wife?" Steve asked, checking to be sure he had all the information in his head correct. Usagi nodded, and he couldn't stop the little smile that spread across his face.

"She is rather beautiful," Usagi replied with a smile. "But right now she's very cross with you, even if you don't remember everything that happened. I do have a theory on how to get your memories back, but I don't want to do it in the midst of all of this."

Steve nodded. The last thing they needed was for something to go wrong and for both of them to be out of commission while everyone else was trying to stop Loki's plan. "What were you thinking?"

"Loki's staff," Usagi explained. "The mind gem. If it can control minds, maybe it can help get them back." Usagi took a bite of her cereal, letting Steve take a moment to think the idea over.

* * *

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Nick Fury demanded as he walked into the lab to see that Tony and Bruce had stopped working on the scepter.

"Uh... kind of been wondering the same about you," Tony confessed, using the computer to pull up some secret files. "What is Phase Two?"

A HYDRA gun was dropped on the table, disturbing the hologram. "Phase Two is S.H.I.E.L.D. used the cube to power weapons." He turned to Fury. "Evidently I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

Thor and Natasha walked into the lab at that very moment, and Banner was instantly on the attack. "Did you know about this?" he demanded of Natasha.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" she offered.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him!" Fury finally interrupted, pointing at Thor.

Thor looked absolutely stunned. "Me?" he asked, pointing to himself.

Fury nodded. "Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge mass that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, out-gunned," he insisted.

Usagi, the late riser as usual, walked into the room at just the right moment. "Yeah, and that's why I'm here," she declared. "Now what's going on?"

Steve was the first to respond, explaining, "S.H.I.E.L.D. is planning to use the Tesseract to build weapons, your majesty."

"Your majesty?" Tony asked with a snort. "Well someone's desperate to please the teacher."

Thor only glared at the billionaire. "She is a queen, and you should treat her as such," he declared firmly. "You should be begging her to rule your helpless, pitiful planet."

Needless to say, the arguing only grew from there, reaching all sorts of topics in a vile yelling match, none of them noticing that the blue gem within Loki's scepter was beginning to glow brightly.

"You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff?" Bruce demanded, nearly yelling. "You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Natasha and Fury instantly went to their guns while Usagi grabbed her scepter, carefully pointing it at Bruce. "Doctor Banner... put down the scepter," Steve requested, and Bruce looked to his hand, seeing Loki's staff in it. He hadn't even noticed that he'd picked it up in the first place.

The computer beeped.

"Got it," Tony declared, going to the computer and typing away while Bruce set the scepter down. Naturally, the event set Steve and Tony into another arguing match while Bruce paid more attention to the information the computer gave.

"Oh my God!" Bruce yelled right before the entire helicarrier was shaken, throwing each of the lab's occupants around.

"Put on the suit!" Steve yelled at Tony as Usagi scrambled to her feet and ran to the room she shared with Minako. The blonde had been sulking since her arrival and refused to leave the room, but now she was needed.

Usagi slammed her hand on the button to open the door repeatedly as though that would somehow speed up the process. Minako rushed out, clearly getting ready to go and find her friend, and ran right into the senshi. "Thank goodness you're alright!" the two exclaimed, hugging each other.

"Someone set off a bomb or something," Usagi explained. She thought for a moment, trying to figure out where they would be most needed. "We need to make sure Loki doesn't get out. He's probably got a team coming for him, and we need to fight them off."

Minako nodded. "Whatever you say, your majesty," she replied, now fully willing to listen to her princess- no, her queen.

The two rushed to Loki's prison, having to be a bit creative in some cases where their path was blocked, but it wasn't too long before they were at the doors. Usagi glanced at her friend, a sad look on her face. She hated using her power as Cosmos, but that was the only way to get in. She pulled both herself and Minako back a bit before extending her hand, instantly unlocking the doors and forcing them to open.

Minako stared on, dumbstruck. "How... how did you... you can't..."

"Come on!" Usagi grabbed Minako's hand and ran through the maze towards Loki's prison...

Just in time to see Agent Coulson get stabbed through the chest by Loki of all people, Thor now trapped in the glass prison. Time slowed down as Loki reached out, releasing the hatch that let Thor drop to the ground below. Once more, Usagi was stuck, frozen in her spot. Sailor Venus attempted to rush the man, but she was tossed aside into the wall without a care.

"You're gonna lose," Coulson's faint voice called. "It's in your nature."

Loki snorted. "Am I?" he asked. "You heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky... where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction," Coulson explained simply. As Loki began to speak again, Coulson shot off the gun in his hand, sending Loki flying through the wall. "So that's what it does."

Usagi finally mustered up the courage to walk up to the man, kneeling down to help him in any way that she could. Tears began falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she apologized, her voice breaking. "I am so, so sorry. I should have stopped him when I had the chance." She reached out, placing a hand over Coulson's wound. A faint, white light appeared from it, but he used what little strength he had left to take her hand in his own.

"Don't waste your powers on me," he insisted. "I'm too far gone now anyway... I heard your discussion with Loki... don't give up on saving them. They're worth it. And you're better than that."

Slowly, shaking, with blood on her hands, Usagi pulled back as Fury arrived, trying to give his agent the "stay alive" speech. Usagi walked over to Minako, gently waking the girl and helping her back to the bridge, both physically and emotionally broken.

* * *

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," Fury said, tossing some blood-stained Captain America trading cards down on the table. While Tony, Usagi, and Minako looked up at Fury, Steve just stared down at the cards. "Guess he never did get you to sign them."

Fury let the gravity of the situation sink in for a bit, the silence letting each and every one of them know that their bickering was what caused this in the first place. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." He paused, looking around at the group. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony stormed out, not wanting to hear any more of it.

"Well it's an old-fashioned notion," Fury sighed.

Instantly, Usagi shook her head. "No, no, I understand," she confessed. "The senshi... we should have never worked as well as we did. We started out as an airhead, a brainiac, a temperamental bitch, a violent brute, and an ace who threw off the balance we barely had. But somehow we did it. We worked together and became friends and figured out how to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. And then we had to do it all over again whenever a new soldier showed up. But it worked. _We_ worked. And I bet that if this team can stop thinking like individuals and start realizing that we are a unit now... we could do a lot."

Steve sighed. "I'll talk to Tony," he promised, scooping the trading cards off the table and leaving.

Minako and Usagi turned to leave as well, but Fury stopped them. "So tell me about your team," he requested, though it sounded much more like an order.

Usagi let out a breath of a laugh. "Sorry, Director, but I have no intention of doing that. I may look like a teenage girl, but I am no fool. I could take your soldiers down without a second thought, but I won't because they're valuable to their families. My soldiers are the same, and I will not jeopardize them, much less to some man I have only just met."

On that note, both soldiers turned and left, heading back to where Coulson had been killed.

A heavy sigh escaped Minako about halfway there, causing Usagi to stop in her tracks and give her friend a questioning look. "Why did you bring me here, Usagi?" Minako finally asked. "I'm not doing much good, and I can't stand to be around Kunzite... also what's up with your powers? You've been so different lately, so secretive. And Thor and Loki? They're here? You need to clue me in on these things. I thought we were friends."

"Minako, we are friends," Usagi insisted. "Unfortunately, I'm also a soldiers, and as I have recently realized, since my mother is dead, I am a queen. I need to make decisions as such, even when they hurt. I brought you here because you were the best candidate for the job right now. We already have two scientists, Jupiter is terrified of flying and wouldn't be any help this entire journey, and Mars's temper would only make what happened earlier worse. Besides, now you get to make amends with Steve Rogers. You loved him once, and he loved you-"

"Yeah, _loved_. Past tense," Minako cut in. "I think you're forgetting the part where I was forced to use my chain to strange him, and he used the last of his strength to stab me. We killed each other, Usagi. What makes you think it won't happen again, especially when we're out fighting someone who can control minds?!"

"Things are-"

"I can't lose him again!"

That stopped Usagi short. She knew the pain of losing her love, but somehow Mamoru always came back. This? This felt different. They were fighting a former friend with a team they barely knew. Everything could fall apart in a heartbeat.

Usagi wrapped Minako in a hug, holding her tight. "I won't let that happen," she promised. "I'm never gonna let that happen to you again. You have my word."

"Hate to cut the girl talk short, but we're leaving," Tony's voice cut in, causing the two friends to pull apart. "He's going to New York. Meet Cap and Natasha at the Quinjet."

The two girls ran off, hurrying up the stairs of the Quinjet just before they closed, a blanket of anxiety falling over the five.

"Stark, we're heading northeast," Natasha said as they reached the city.

"What, did you stop for drive through?" Tony demanded sarcastically. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."

Usagi looked out the front window, gulping when she saw one of the Chitauri racing towards them. Natasha and Clint each pressed a few buttons, and machine guns shot down the creature. Soon after, they headed around to Stark Tower, firing at Loki, only to have him fire back.

The jet banked hard, one of its wings catching fire from Loki's attack and smashing into the street. The five unfastened their seat belts and raced out of the jet just in time to see a Chitauri Leviathan fly out of the portal, carrying hundreds of soldiers. "Stark, are you seeing this?" Natasha asked into her earpiece, though Usagi missed the reply.

The five ran behind overturned taxis. They looked up to see Loki taking his band down the street and fire at the street causing a chain of explosions, smashing cars and hurling people away as it went. Terrified people ran, desperately trying to escape Loki, looking back over their shoulders.

"Those people need assistance down there," Steve declared.

"On it," Minako replied instantly, taking Usagi for quite a shock.

"We've got this. Go!" Natasha insisted.

While Minako and Steve rushed to the plaza, Natasha, Clint, and Usagi continued fighting the soldiers, Natasha with bullets, Clint with arrows, and Usagi using her staff to turn the creatures to dust.

Over at the plaza, Steve and Minako were working together like they'd been doing it all their lives. The duo rushed up to the police sergeant, instantly giving orders.

"I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway," Minako declared.

Steve instantly continued, "You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

"Why the hell should I listen to you two?" the sergeant asked. As he asked his question, an explosion came up from behind Steve and Minako, Steve blocking the blast with his shield. Two Chitauri soldiers appeared, each fought off by the soldiers with ease while the cops looked on in awe. Seeing what the two could do, the sergeant barked Steve and Minako's orders at his men.

The group joined back up in the middle of the street, everyone looking a little ragged already. "What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked.

"The powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

"Thor's right," Tony went on. through the communication systems. "We gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

Minako smiled, a little glint in her eye for the first time since joining. "As a team," she replied.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor declared.

"Yeah, get in line," Clint cut in.

"Save it," Steve ordered. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us..."

The puttering of a sad little motorbike stopped them. All turned to see Bruce riding in, soot streaked across his face. "So...this all seems horrible," he said as he surveyed the city.

"I've seen worse," Natasha replied, a hint of a smile playing on her face.

Naturally, Bruce winced. "Sorry," he apologized.

"No," Natasha assured him. "We could use a little worse."

"Banner?" Tony asked.

"Just like you said," Steve replied.

"They tell him to suit up," Tony ordered. "I'm bringing the party to you." From behind a building, Tony swerved, the Chitauri Leviathan following him.

The rest of the group looked up, preparing themselves for attack. "I... I don't see how that's a party," Natasha confessed.

"Dr. Banner, this might be a really good time for you to get angry."

Bruce only smiled. "That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry." Bruce's body began to grow, turning him into the Hulk within seconds. The Hulk turned, slamming his fist into the nose of the Leviathan and flipping it over. Having seen what just happened, thousands more Chitauri soldiers flew out of the portal.

"Guys..."

"Call it, Cap!"

"Alright, listen up!" Steve ordered. "Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash." Tony and Clint headed up together without a second thought. "Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up. Serenity, you need to heal Selvig's mind before he does any more harm. If you can take down a few soldiers, great." Usagi grabbed Thor, and the two headed up into the sky together, Thor dropping Usagi off at Stark Tower while the remaining four fought on the street.

A ways behind Selvig, Usagi held up her scepter, carefully aiming it at the man. A faint light appeared, reaching out to the man and releasing the darkness in his mind. Confused, the man looked around, wondering just where he was.

"Dr. Selvig!" Usagi cried, rushing up to the man. "My name is Serenity, please, how do you stop the portal?"

The man shook his head slowly, shaking. "Loki's scepter, the energy... the Tesseract can't fight. You can't protect against yourself."

"Doctor, please!"

"I... I built in a safety to cut the power source..."

"Loki's scepter," Usagi realized.

"It might be able to close the portal." He glanced down, seeing a golden gleam. "And I'm looking right at it."

Usagi looked down as well just as Natasha arrived on the roof. "I'm getting Loki's scepter, you get ready for the toss," she ordered, carefully climbing over the safety railing and making her way down one floor. The roof access door had been crushed, impossible to open. Shimmying, the blonde made it to the next floor, using her heel to break in the already-cracked window. She jumped in and grabbed the scepter, heading out to the window ledge and tossing it like a javelin to Natasha.

Back in scientist mode, Selvig clacked away at the keyboard while Natasha used the scepter to slowly break through the barrier, nearly touching the Tesseract while Usagi climbed back up.

"I can close it!" the redheaded spy yelled. "Can anyone hear me? I can shut the portal down!"

Usagi missed a bit of what happened next, only seeing Tony flying up through the portal with a missile as she got back to the roof. "What is he doing?" she whispered to herself. Now, it wasn't just her that was frozen. Everyone was looking to the sky, waiting to see if Tony would come back.

"Come on, Stark," Natasha muttered, still holding the scepter. A few more moments passed, and the supernova from the missile became clear. Natasha yanked the scepter out, the Tesseract turning off its energy beam and the portal closing. However, a small figure managed to make it through just in time.

"He did it!" Usagi exclaimed, watching the man fall...

...and fall...

...and fall.

"He's not stopping," Natasha realized as he passed them by. The two women and Dr. Selvig rushed to the safety railing and peered over just in time to see the Hulk grabbing Tony and slowing his descent.

A bright smile spread over Usagi's face, and she ran over to the crushed roof access door. Now that she had enough time to do it, she was able to use her powers to pull the door away from its place, the three rushing down to the penthouse to see Loki.

By the time the god of mischief was able to wake and crawl up a couple of stairs, all of the Avengers were there, staring at him, royally pissed off. Clint aimed an arrow at the man.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink," Loki half-joked.

* * *

Not much later, Central Park was the location of a bit of a meeting of some rather non-costumed superheroes. Thor took Loki, cuffed and muzzled, to a blocked area, and the blond man shook the hands of each of his teammates, even hugging Usagi, Minako, and Selvig. Tony opened the Tesseract's case, and Bruce took it, placing it in a glass tube in Thor's hand. While they were doing that, Usagi went over to Loki with her sad, puppy-dog eyes and got on her tip toes to hug him around the neck, even planting a kiss on his cheek.

The girl pulled away, and the two Asgardians leaped into the energy beam of the Tesseract.

One by one, the group splintered off, Bruce and Tony getting into one of the latter's lavish cars, Natasha and Clint getting into a S.H.I.E.L.D. car, and Steve offering Minako a hand. A small smile crossed her face before she accepted, following him to his motorcycle and getting on the back. Usagi trailed behind the last two a bit, wanting to talk to her friend one last time.

"So you're staying here?" the blonde asked as Steve stared the engine.

Minako nodded. "And what about you? You going home?"

Usagi pursed her lips, not really sure what to say. "I don't know," she confessed. "I probably at least need to explain things to my parents."

"You'll figure it out," Minako promised her friend. "You always do."

The younger blonde smiled, taking a few steps back as Steve and Minako drove away before she finally turned around, walking down a few steps to stony area. She glanced around to make sure everyone else was gone before she glanced at her hand. A few silver streaks ran over her skin, as though they replaced her veins, and she winced, shoving her hands in her pockets and disappearing in a flash of white light.

* * *

Woot! So let's do a round up: we've got Usagi as Cosmos but pretending she's not, Steve as Kunzite being surprisingly chill about it (then again, that's probably the most normal thing he's heard of in the 21st century so far), Thor and Loki being present in the Silver Millennium, and a lot of fun vagueness. Now just so you know, I left some things vague on purpose or the script didn't allow for me to dive in much more. I wanted to keep this along with the movie plotline, and adding in too much information would make it go for weeks whereas _The Avengers_ took place over a couple of days. There's still a lot of stuff to be dealt with.

Talking done. If you read all that, congratulations! Come and claim your cookie!


End file.
